J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by croc996

95% of the time I ski on-piste and 99% in Europe so that may account for it - but I have never seen or heard of self-arrest grips like that before, not even seen them for sale. I think there is a lot less off-piste skiing in Europe than in the States and Canada, partly for reasons of culture, partly for legal reasons, partly due to less favourable conditions perhaps. I can certainly understand the utility of the self-arrest grips in the situations you descibe, but guess there may be a safety trade-off with them - in the sense that it might not be too hard to stab/cut yourself with one of those by mistake if you crash ? Worse still if caught in an avalanche perhaps?

I think the key message is in the text below the video where Chappy says:
"It also shows why you should ALWAYS be going with people trained in avalanche rescue / first aid...."

Not to try and flog anything but I got a small (not adequate) idea of what that means by watching Peter Hart's DVD training video called "In Deeper", shot with instructors in Canada. Amongst other things it explains some techniques which guides there use to get a better estimate of whether or not snow is safe for off-piste activity. Discussing avalanches with instructors in the Alps, they told me that prevention is not only the best, often also the *only* cure. They said that in damp-snow avalanches such as we often see in Europe, the event is violent enough to litterally destroy any person caught in its path. They looked very serious when they spoke...

I found this video very instructive - it will come to mind whenever I see an attractive powder-slope....

The text posted below the video deserves to be read through too.

http://www.vimeo.com/6581009

Hallo Kiwis :-) Here's my non-commercial opinion....

For starters I am not mad keen on Gressoney because the valley is deep, narrow, and does not get much sunlight - not a problem while you're out on the slopes but can be a bit grim in the late afternoon... (JMHO of course). Secondly, skiing in Italy is not very cheap - low cost lodging is hard to come by and eating out can easily set you back a pretty penny.

If I were you I would dedicate a couple of weeks to the Dolomites and a couple to the Alps.

In the Dolomites I would try and stay somewhere near to Corvara. The Superski Dolomiti skipass is not cheap but gives you access to runs throughout the entire Dolomite range - a simply vast area. You MUST have ID (eg passport) and a set of passport photos with you when you buy the pass. From Corvara you can ski to litterally a dozen wonderful places and back in a day. Google it and look at the map :-) You may be able to find a good lodging solution in a "maso" (mountain hut). Try the websites of the local "pro loco" tourist offices for this.

In the Alps I would try to stay somewhere near Courmayeur. Week-ends are crowded but the views of the Mont Blanc and down the Valle D'Aosta are wonderful even by NZ's Remarkable standards. From Courma you can ski the Mont Blanc itself and make day trips to Chamonix and Argentiere (Les Grands Montets are Something) in France - also to La Thuile which is wide open and windy but with some great runs.

Last but not least... it's just across the border from Cervinia (you can even ski over): Zermatt. The Hotel Bahnhoff is very friendly and comfortable and (relatively) reasonable - but you need to make bookings there errr... yesterday...

Hope this helps :-)

There is some skiing in Calabria in the Monti della Sila, but all reports I have heard are pretty discouraging. From Brindisi I would recommend you drive up the Adriatica as far as Termoli, then turn along the Bifernina, then towards Isernia, then left at San Massimo and drive up to Campitello Matese. The runs are not very long but the scenery is wonderful and the Molisani are a nice crowd. The place is good for a week-end of skiing. For a long week-end of skiing you could head a little further north still and ski at Roccaraso, which has more and longer runs than Campitello but does get crowded with folk from Naples and Rome. Let's hope it's another snowy winter in the Centro-Sud :-)

Dave - re the Boeri helmet here's the pointer
http://www.snowjournal.com/article631.html
When you hit the page run a search for "Boeri". The article also has some interesting things to say about new materials being used to used keep skiers/boarder warm dry and cosy. Somewhat strangely the Boeri home site seems to say nothing at all about the intriguing helmet mentioned above.
On the subject of room-to-grow I see Phenix have an offering for small skiers (http://www.vphenix.com/alpine/products/k/sukusuku/index)
but haven't thought shape-shifting middle-age skiers yet....
Returning to helmets - I also saw this site which looks interesting
http://www.natives.co.uk/equipment/helmets.htm
(Ok that's enough links ED.)
Best rgds
El Croco Loco

"It is better to be off-piste than the opposite."

I understand that in Italy from this season skiers up to the age of 14 are obliged by law to wear a helmet. I think you can usually rent a lid on the spot but it may be worth thinking of buying if you're heading for the Dolomites or Italian Alps with children. This morning I read an interesting review of Boeri ski helmets with some kind of "room to grow" feature - any of you J2ers had an experience with these? Also, on the subject of helmets and their relative benefits/drawbacks, it would be interesting to see some stats regarding head and non-head injuries per thousand skier/hours with and without helmets. Wonder if anyone has this kind of data - big insurance players perhaps. THe ski-injury.com site is very interesting, but limited to Scotland, which with all due respect, might not be very representative for a number of reasons.